Not saying there is a fix but game in and game out it sure seems like if it is close we get called for it, while our opponent gets away with blatant stuff.

Take that over a full schedule and it has to impact the stats.

I don't believe that there is an anti-Cowboy bias in the officiating for a second. All NFL fans of all NFL club basically share the sentiment and I've never bought into it or seen any hard evidence of it.

I don't believe that there is an anti-Cowboy bias in the officiating for a second. All NFL fans of all NFL club basically share the sentiment and I've never bought into it or seen any hard evidence of it.

Well when I see Hall mugging Dez all game without a flag and then see him called for illegal contact against Seattle's #3 WR I have to wonder.

Okay, I am gonna ask - are the pre snap penalties in any way Romo centered? And I ask this as a huge Romo fan, but it seems to me that when examining this issue the QB needs to also be seen as a potential source - cadence, too many pre snap changes/audibles, etc. Just askin' folks... not sayin', just askin'...

I think penalties is a discipline/coaching thing and one of my bigger issues with Garrett. I know its a lower level sample but when I played high school ball our coach was a real stickler for stupid plays...penalties, missed assignments, etc. In film sessions we would constantly be drilled on this stuff. In practice we would run plays until we got it right..not just going through the motions. We would run laps, do updowns, etc for stupid/negative plays until the discipline was drilled into our heads. I know most NFL teams barely have enough time to go over scheme but it floors me that this issue happens with the Cowboys. To me Garrett isn't doing his job. I also want to know what the coaches do conditioning wise because late in games when you need that concentration, sometimes conditioning comes into play.

We seem to place the responsibility of penalties on the coach more than the players. Fair enough. But my question is, what are some things, realistically, that Garrett could/should do to decrease this. We talk about holding players accountable, but are you really going to bench Jason Witten for a false start, when it's now 3rd and 7 at midfield, with a minute to go and we need to score? Is it scheming? Conditioning/Fatigue? Is it lack of focus? How can you get players to focus better? Is it an overall culture that fails to promote discipline? How can that discipline be improved?

To me this is the biggest difference in the Falcons and the Cowboys. They are always one of the least penalized teams and have great attention to detail. We play like we are the 82 Raiders and just better than everybody. It is the one things that sticks out most in the difference in the words of Garrett and the performance of his team.

It seemed like the penalties went down in the second half of the season though...not sure.
Part of penalties comes from lack on continuity--but that only explains variation duiring a season not for three year spans.

How can there not be? Penalties are, by definition, negative plays. We had more negative plays than all but 2 teams this season, that has to count for something.

With that said, I've got no idea how to fix it. Penalities were a problem with Parcells, Phillips, and now Garrett.

I'm curious, is there anyway you can tell what Dallas was flagged for most often (eg holdings, false start, PI, etc.)

That might offer some clues as to where the issues lie and if it's a mental problem more than a physical one.

There is no mathematical correlation between *total* penalties and wins/losses in the league.

None.

However, there is a correlation between offensive penalties and wins/losses in the league according to FootballOutsiders.com. I don't think it's a strong mathematical correlation, but I think it is decent enough mathematically to take note of.

That's really the problem with Dallas...we make a lot of offensive penalties. But some other team may make a lot of penalties, but keep them to the defensive side and not be affected by them as much.

Okay, I am gonna ask - are the pre snap penalties in any way Romo centered? And I ask this as a huge Romo fan, but it seems to me that when examining this issue the QB needs to also be seen as a potential source - cadence, too many pre snap changes/audibles, etc. Just askin' folks... not sayin', just askin'...

Yes, they are.

It was discussed early in the year when they had 'cadence issues.' And the offense and Romo always get into trouble when he starts making last second adjustments. Very difficult, particularly on the road, to know what the changes are the more times you adjust, particularly at the last second. Sometimes you just have to line up and execute.

It was discussed early in the year when they had 'cadence issues.' And the offense and Romo always get into trouble when he starts making last second adjustments. Very difficult, particularly on the road, to know what the changes are the more times you adjust, particularly at the last second. Sometimes you just have to line up and execute.

But, the O-Coordinator has to get Romo to stop that as well.

YR

The biggest issue is we are low on the list in avg starting field position and takeaways.

When you are always facing 75-85 yard drives any offensive penalty can cost you points.